Hydraulic or other elevator



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I G. N. REIFF.

HYDRAULIC OR OTHER ELEVATORS;

Patented. Apr; 17

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4 HYDRAULIC 0R OTHER-ELEVATORS.

No. 275,857. Patented Apr. 17,1883.

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N. REIPI. HYDRAULIC OR OTHER ELEVATORS.

No. 275,857. Patented Apr. 17,1883.

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NITED STATES GUSTAVUS N. REIFF, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HYDRAULIC OR OTHER ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,857, dated April 17, 1883,

Application filed December 4, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern In my former invention a guard or fence Be it known that I, GUsTAVUs N. REIFF, of connected with standards is operated by the the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Hydraulic and other Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to the class of devices known as elevators or hoistinging-machines, and which are designed to transport passengers or merchandise between the different floors of buildings.

In the accompanying drawings my device is represented as applied to a baggage or freight hoist of the character employed in depots, warehouses, and other business estab lishments.

My invention relates specifically to an improvement in elevators invented byme, application for patent for which was executed by me November 3, A. D. 1882, and duly filed in the United States Patent Office on the 28th day of November, A. D. 1882.

In the case of baggage-hoists, a flat platform, as opposed to an inclosed car or cage, is guided in vertical ways, and caused, by either steam or hydraulic mechanism,to travel through openings conformed to its sectional outline, and occurring in vertical alignment in the several floors of the buildings to which it is applied.

It is a desideratum in hoisting-machines of this class that the openings in the several floors should, for the prevention of injury to persons accidentally falling through them, be

guarded at such a time as they are not occupied by the platform, and it is also a desideratum that at the time when the platform fills any given opening egress for trucks and mer-' chandise generally from the platform should be had in any direction upon the floor.

My former invention referred to embraces an improved means of guarding elevator openings or wells in the floors of buildings by the provision of a guard-rail or fence contrivance conformed to the outline of the opening, and adapted to be operated by the platform itself, so as to be removed or displaced from the opening at the time when the platform is moved in place to fill the latter, and to be returned or replaced about the opening at the time when the platform has moved so as to no longer occupy said opening.

platform, so as to belifted by the latter, through the instrumentality of the standards, and elevated above the opening at the time when the platform fills it. The construction is such that the standards are not removed, but remain permanently about the sides of the opening, and, to the extent of the area which they occupy, prevent free egress from the platform.

The object of my present invention is not only to provide for precisely such a guarding device as is contemplated in my former invention, but also to provide a means not only for sinking the guard below the level of the floor to an opening in which it is applied at the time when the platform fills said opening, but also for automatically lifting the guard above the floor and into position to act as a guard proper upon the movement of the platform away from said opening.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented a convenient means for accomplishing this desired result, and have depicted a baggage-elevator conveniently embodying my invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in perspective an apparatus conveniently embodying my invention, and viewed from below one of the floors through which the platform travels, sight being taken at the moment when the platform has registered level with the opening and when the guard has sunk below the level of the floor. Figs. 2 and3 are elevational views, respectively, from a point within the path of the elevators travel and a point without such path of a portion of the guard, a portion of the opening in the floor, one of the posts upon which the guides are applied,one set of the carrier-bars and segmental arms, one counterbalance-arm, one toe-cam, and one set of segmental gears, all represented in the position which said parts occupy prior to the ascent of the platform and the operation of the cam-actuating bar. Figs. 4 and 5 are precisely similar views of the same parts in the opposite position, or that which said parts occupy when the platform has ascended so as to be in place within the opening, and when the guard has descended under the influence exerted upon the several operative parts by the cam-actuating bar in contact with the toecam, as hereinafter explained. Fig. 6 is'a horizontal plan of one set of the tubular bear-' ings, segmental gears, segmental arms, and of that counterbalance-arm which operates in connection therewith, section being supposed through one of the posts and platform-guides at a point immediately above the tubular bearings. Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a convenient form of one of the sides of the guard intermediate between those two opposite sides which are operated by and connected with the carrier-bars. Fig.8 is a similar view of one of the sides to which the carrier-bars are applied, when such side is modified in construction so as to be divided into two parts.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents an upper floor, and B a lower floor, of a building through which an elevator runs.

0 are guides or ways against which the elevator-platform D travels. These guides are erected upon the opposing faces of posts erected between the floors centrally with respect to two opposite sides of the openings therein. The platform is supposed to be operated by any hydraulic or other suitable lifting mechanism, which for clearness of illustration is omitted from the drawings.

F is a guard for the opening or well, one of which is applied in connection with eachopening in the several floors. The guard is preferably made as a fence, corresponding in seclional outline to the opening, and well constructed when of light metal braces, substantially in the manner represented in Fig. 7. Two sides of the guard are supported upon carrier-bars Gr, two of which are conveniently pivoted near the outer extremities of the upper rails. The sides of the guard so supported are opposite sides, and those which are placed upon the sides of the openings to which the posts and ways are shown applied.

I now confine my description to a single set of devices.

The lower extremities of the carrier-ha rs are pivoted to the free outer extremities of what. 1 term segmental arms H, the latter being permanently affixed at their inner extremities to theinnerends of shafts I,journaled in tubular bearings J, applied upon opposite sides of the postsE, as especially represented in Figs. 1 and 6. The connection of the segmental arms with the shafts is rigid, so that upon a movement of the shafts the segmental arms also move.

Upon the outer extremities of the shafts I are rigidly connected the hubs of two segmental gears, K, the teeth of which mesh in the manner represented in Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 6. Irrespective of other parts, it will be obvious that any force which tends to rotate either shaft will cause the conjoint throw of the teeth of the segmental gears and occasion an equal opposite movement of the segmental arms, and that the common movement of the outer extremities of these arms in one or the other direction will cause the raising or lowering of thatside of the guard which is supported upon the carrier-bars, which are connected to said segmental arms. One of the shafts is prolonged beyond the segmental arm with which it is equipped, and provided as to its prolonged extremity with a toe-cam, L, rigidly affixed thereto, and substantially of the form represented in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 6. Any force which encounters and deflects this toe-cam will, obviously, rotate its shaft and occasion the equal movement of the segmental gears and arms and the lift or drop of the carrier bars and guard, as above described.

Connected with the shaft to which the toecam is also connected, but, for convenience of application, upon the opposite side thereof, is a. counterbalance-arm, M, provided with a weight, N, calculated, in the normal set of the parts, to retain the segmental gears, segmental arms, carrier-bars, and guard in the position represented in Figs. 2 and 3. Such further descentoft-he counterbalance-arm as would throw the segmental teeth out of gear and occasion the elevation of the guard to an unnecessary extent is prevented by a suspender, O, which arrests any such descent.

I have described a single set of appliances connected with one side of the guard. It is proper here to state that a precisely similar set of appliances is located upon the opposite side of the openingand connected with the op posite post, and that the guard, being a connected whole, is, as such, supported upon the four carrier-bars represented in Fig. 1, and controlled entirely in its inovementby the movement thereof.

Connected with braces I, sprung from the lower surface of the platform, or otherwise connected thereto in the most convenient manner, are two double wedge-shaped cam-actuating bars, Q, set to travel with the platform against the guides in connection with which said platform travels, one upon that side of each guide which faces the operative surfaces of the toe-cam. In practical construction each actuating-bar tapers from both ends toward a center, which is best straightened or flattened. for a certain distance; but where the device is applied to an elevator running between two floors only the actuating-bar may be made with but one incline. 4

Having thus described aconvenient construction of my device, its operation will be readily understood. Assume the guard above the opening, and each set of operative parts in the position represented in Figs. 2 and 3. Upon the ascent of the platform the cam-actuating bar, encountering the toe-cam in its ascent, will deflect said toe-ca'm upward as its broader surface gradually impinges against said cam, and in so deflecting the cam will rotate its shaft, elevate the counterbalancearm to which said cam is connected, occasion the upward throw of the segmental gears, and the consequent descent of the outer ends of the segmental arms and of the carrier-bars and ICC IIO'

IIS

guard, so that the parts changefrom the position represented in Figs. 2 and 3 to the position which they are represented as occupying in Figs. 4 and 5. When the platform stops at a given opening the central or broader portion of its actuatingbar is in bite with the toe-cam, as represented in Fig. 4. Upon either the further ascent or descent of the platform, as will be readily understood by reference to the drawings, and especially to'Figs. 1 and 4, the actuating-bar will gradually travel away from the toe-cam, and permit the return of said cam under the actuation'of the counterbalance-arm, through the medium of the shaft, to the position represented in Fig. 2, in which position the guard is again elevated. The counter-balance returns the guard automatically into position above thelevel of the floor, and this position is retained until and only changed when the actuating-bar in a further movement of the platform, encountering the toe-cam, overcomes the counterbalance, as hereinbefore set forth.

As will be readily obvious, this device is applicable to elevators traveling through a series of floors. The operation isthe same whether the platform is traveling up or down, as the equal-sided construction or correspondinglyopposite taper ofthe actuating-bar represented and the conformation of the toe-cam occasions precisely the same deflection of said cam whether the bar approaches it from above or from below, in either case the cam being deflected, the counter-balance overcome, and the guard sunk below the level of the floor at the moment when the platform is level with said floor.

It is obvious that this device is applicable with elevators of the various constructions, and also, under suitable mechanical modifications, with those in which a car is employed.

The form and character of the guard may be varied at will. Thus, for instance, it may be made of tubes connected by suitable unions, or in any manner that convenience of manufacture may dictate.

If desired, the operative parts of the device may be applied to all four sides of the opening instead of to two only, although I do not regard this as necessary. The space between the platform and the opening is, of course, sufficient to take in the guard.

In the construction represented in Fig. 1 the device is applicable to all four sides of the opening; but it may be applied to two only, where it is unnecessary to protect all. Where a fence or guard is applied to two sides of an opening only, or where the guide for the platform of the elevator requires that the guardfor the opening be divided, as in Fig. 8, the divided parts may be suspended, when below the openings, on pins or hooks, or in any manner which will not interfere with the proper working of the platform.

R in Fig. 8 are rods whereby the elevating mechanism is set in action.

Having thus described my in vention,I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. As an improvement in elevator-guards, the following devices, connected, arranged, and operating substantially as hereinbefore set forth, namely: a platform, a guard for the opening in a floor through which said platform travels, a wedge-shaped actuating-bar connected with the platform, and carrier-arms, segmental arms, segmental gears, shafts, a counter-balance, and a toe-cam, all connected with the guard, substantially as hereinbefore set forth. 4

2. As a means of suspending free for vertical movementthe guard hereinbeforedescribed, the carrier-bars, segmental arms, segmental gears, shafts, and counterbalance-arm, all combined substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. As a means of actuating an elevatorguard constructed and operating substantially as hereinbefore set forth, the toe-cam, means for connecting the toe-cam with the guard, and a wedge-shaped actuating-bar adapted to operateupon the toe-cam, substantially as herein before set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 23d day ofNovember, A. D. 1882.

GUSTAVUS N. REIFF.

In presence of- FRANK A. MULLIKIN, J. BONSALL TAYLOR. 

